I've been thinking about your post, and you know what, I like it. I think it is ultimately about being able to look something square in the eye, not be afraid, and then the something has no power over you. I think I have been giving food power over me, to make decisions for me and to dictate my feelings. It's almost like the emotional vampires in our lives that we let have power over us... they suck you dry and you have no control.

Today, I am going to give the skunk eye to food that is trying to oppress me and tell it to go stuff itself. ;-)

AP

---

------------------------
"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

Love your idea about the hummous for breakfast. I have a recipe I love, I'll skip the garlic (out of kindness to coworkers) and I've got a super easy meal/snack.

Thanks!

Can you share you hummus recipe? I love hummus. (I love chick peas in any guise actually)

the stuff i make is ridiculously easy - i don't skip the garlic because i frankly don't like my coworkers that much ;)

1 x 15oz can chickpeas - do not drain, or drain very little
2 x cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 a fist-sized onion, roughly chopped
1tbsp olive oil
2tbsp lemon or lime juice (to taste - either one is good)
2tbsp dijon mustard (or to taste)
1/4tsp sea salt
1/4tsp black pepper
spice to taste - i love using either 1-2tbsp dried thyme or a good-sized handful of chopped fresh parsley

throw all of the above into a blender, blend until smooth, and store in the fridge in an airtight plastic container almost indefinitely. i literally only make this once a month or so (maybe every 6 weeks), and the last scrape out of the container is just as good as the first! it doesn't separate, and doesn't seem to go off. play with the ingredients until you find the mix that you like - i use a lot of dijon and black pepper so it ends up fairly spicy.

cheers!

-mistress k

---

__________________________________________________________
ill advised racing inc.

Thanks!

Thanks for the support of my wacky contribution, AndyPants. As I was writing the post, I was afraid I would get flamed for my philosophy. Whenever I tell someone about it in real life, they look at me like I'm totally insane.

The really nice thing about the gradual weight loss is that I've created a new set point for my weight. If I see it drifting up, it seems fairly easy to bring it back down again by exercising a little more diligently/intensely and cutting out a few of the "treats" (but definitely not all of them!).

Here's to freedom from food issues!

I came across an interesting quote from the author of "French Women Don't Get Fat" (which I did not read myself): "French women take pleasure in staying thin by eating well, while Americans typically see it as a conflict and obsess over it. French women don't skip meals or substitute slimming shakes for them. They have two or three courses at lunch and then another three (sometimes four) at dinner. And with wine, bien sûr. How do they do it? Well, that's a story. That's the story. One hint: They eat with their heads, and they do not leave the table feeling stuffed or guilty."

I didn't see anything in there about cupcakes or Haagen Dasz, though...

Their courses are also small - the portion sizing in Europe is completely different than what you see in the US. Heck I live in Vancouver and even I see a huge difference between here and just south of the border.... 30min away.... When you take your time eating, you'll actually feel yourself get full too. AP

---

------------------------
"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

This is pretty much the exact same thing that the "Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything" book says.

Eat what you want.
Eat when you are hungry.
Stop when you feel satisfied.

But you need to get to why you don't do this and obsess and have conflict with food. That's the hard part.

clm

---

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

yes they eat GOOD food, as in great tasting and quality, but its also a much smaller amount. The food is also not low fat fake versions...its a lot of butter. That fills you up. Also, just from my short time in France not only is the food amazing, the roads are more conducive to walking and that is something that a lot of american suburbs lack...a place to walk safely. In so many places inthe US you really do need a car unless you want to walk or run on an interstate.
The US style of eating is different, I cant remember where I read this quote I think it was Pollan? that said its called fast food as you have to eat it fast as it starts to really taste like crap when it gets cold and if you dont eat it fast enough you will have time to think about how bad it is...

This is actually in reply to all replying to me...

I live in Vancouver as well. I didn't mention my circumstances which probably do help me keep weight off. Our family has one car. My husband commutes to work by bicycle and I walk or ride mostly everywhere. We mostly use the car on weekends. We don't live in the suburbs but in an area which is within walking/biking distance of a mall, groceries, school, pool, great places to cycle and run, and kids' activities. Two days ago I went grocery shopping with a bicycle trailer and today I took my kids to swimming lessons in the trailer as well.

But these are all things I had before I lost the extra 17 pounds ;-) Losing the weight probably had the most to do with changing the intensity of exercise and less to do with what I ate.

I am not saying that it's easy to lose weight purely through exercise. In fact, I remember another study: "A study of 962 men and women enrolled in a two-year weight loss program found that exercise alone was enough to help men lose weight. In women, however, even substantial increases in exercise weren't enough to produce weight loss if they didn't reduce their calorie intake." http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/article700694.ece

I agree with the comment on portion sizes. I recently went for vacation across the border and discussed with my husband ahead of time that we need to remember to order only one entree between us because the portions are always so big! I also agree with the comment on adding butter to food. Previously I said I eat mostly nutritious foods, but I definitely do not skimp on butter or sugar when it is required for cooking. When a recipe calls for it, I don't use any substitutes (except whole wheat flour for white flour, etc.). So in a nutshell, the only thing I "deprive" myself of is the pleasure of overeating. Although that was very hard to avoid in Vegas. ;-)

Another interesting thing to note is recently they did a study on willpower. "The brain has a limited capacity for self-regulation, so exerting willpower in one area often leads to backsliding in others. The good news, however, is that practice increases willpower capacity, so that in the long run, buying less now may improve our ability to achieve future goals — like losing those 10 pounds we gained when we weren’t out shopping." We can apply these principles to eating and training. Unfortunately, then, if we're saying no the cupcake, we have less willpower for getting out there in the rain and riding the bike. Here is an article that seems to refer to what I remember: http://www.nytimes.com/...pinion/02aamodt.html

So, say yes to cupcakes! Yay! ;-) Sorry if I'm getting off topic here...

Howdy neighbour :-)

Yeah same here, we have 1 car, we walk/ride/transit a lot, in fact that is a big part of our decisions on where to work and where to live. When we travel, we have a rule: no chain restaurants, PERIOD (at home, we will take the kids to Boston Pizza maybe once every two months, but usually opt for the local greek/spaghetti house down the street once every two weeks - that's the extend of our chain restaurant eating). It is amazing how much better food you get by avoiding the chains. And there is nothing wrong with splitting a dish - in the US in particular, we often find that if we order one entree, we can EASILY split it between the two of us and it's about perfect.

And who would rather eat bland food that doesn't satisfy the soul but fills a huge plate instead of a smaller tastier dish?

AP

---

------------------------
"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

That was exactly what I thought when I moved here 9 years ago...So you can't walk everywhere? Actually when I moved here, I didn't have a driver's license. I never needed one.

Where I live now, in a small town, I can walk to the quaintly and aptly named General Store, and that's it...there has been a puch by some residents to get sidewalks near the school for safety reasons and the council always opposes it was they feel sidewalks will ruin the character of the town..so instead there is always major congestion as kids are dropped off at school or bussed, when so many of them live within a mile from the school.
I wish I could find the article...I was thinking more about in many areas of the US people are without public transit and no sidewalks or anywhere safe to walk...things are far and you really need a car in teh suburbs..I have read about lots of poorer people who cannot afford cars being hit as they walk sometimes hours to work. In a lot of areas the town/city infrastructure does not encourage walking/riding.

I read somewhere that the average car trip in the US is...1/2mi! I don't know many Europeans (or Aussies for that matter) who'd bother get in the car for 800m...

It's so not worth it. I hate having to travel to Houston for work - when I try to walk to places not that far away, I get the "you crazy" look or nearly get run over due to lack of sidewalks, etc. I am constantly baffled at why a lot of American (and some Canadian i.e.: Calgary) cities are designed like this...

AP

---

------------------------
"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS